Persistence of Visions

Persistence of Visions was an unique two-day workshop proposed by the Free Art Bureau for the Festival of Graphic Design Breda. Inspired by the early abstract film artists, participants worked on a collaborative project based on graphic narrative through motion, following a loose concept of the cadavre exquis. A workshop for people who had little or no knowledge of programming.

Thursday September 20 and Friday September 21
From 10:00 am – 17.00 pm

The workshop will be taught using Processing as the main creative tool with the aim of learning the basics of creative coding and working towards developing a simple animation system. Using this system, each participant will be able to create their own animated scenes, exploring various graphic and generative possibilities. The objective of the workshop will be to create an abstract short film bringing together everybody’s work which also means working as a group at large to hold the piece together and challenge the festival’s main theme of visual story telling.

The first day will introduce the language and environment Processing as well as the basic concepts of programming. Participants will learn how to create as well as incorporate their own visual elements – working with images, type, graphics, photos. We will work towards developing a simple generative motion system that will be the basis for the second day’s activities. The second day will focus on using and developing this simple generative system to create a short ‘animated’ video piece. We will work as a whole group on drawing out an underlying theme for the film. Participants will then work in pairs to create individual scenes for the final video.

The workshop will cater for people who have little or no knowledge of programming. We want to encourage an experimental yet educational and fun experience!